1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the field of oil or chemical containment booms and in particular to an improved boom construction and method of deployment wherein a lightweight boom may be stored and deployed as an emergency containment boom either by aircraft, helicopter or by light duty water craft.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Energy usage, and in particular oil production, requires the production of crude petroleum at offshore platforms or the transport of substantial volumes of oil or other petroleum products by super tankers on the sea lanes. In addition, intentional oil spills have been used in the Middle East as a weapon of war. The impact both upon environment, wildlife, fisheries, and machines of both peace and war, which operate in the marine environment or in coastal environments, are adversely impacted by marine petroleum spills sometimes with catastrophic losses. It is further anticipated that intentional environmental despoiliation may in the future not be limited to petroleum spills, but may also include spills of adverse chemical and biological agents.
Use of inflatable oil containment booms is well known. Such booms may be comprised of multiple inflated chambers such as shown by Bretherick et al, "Barrier For Oil Spilt On Water," U.S. Pat. No. 4,140,424 (1979); or Finigan et al, "Oil Control System," U.S. Pat. No. 4,123,911 (1978).
The basic design for oil spill containment booms includes a top flotation device, which is solid or air inflated, from which depends a curtain held by weights. In this manner, when the boom is deployed in a rolling sea or chop, the integrity of the barrier is maintained even though a section of the flotation chamber is lifted out of the water by wave crests. Examples of such design range from a simple flat inflatable boom such as shown by Kurihara et al, "Oil Boom," U.S. Pat. No. 4,260,285 (1981) to more complex systems such as shown by Teasdale, "Oil Containment Booms," U.S. Pat. No. 4,403,888 (1983); Ahiko, "Floatable Oil Fence," U.S. Pat. No. 4,015,431 (1977); Simpson et al, "Containment Boom System," U.S. Pat. No. 4,640,645 (1987); or Hallhagen, "Oil Fence," U.S. Pat. No. 4,084,380 (1978).
However, most if not all prior art containment boom systems are heavy weight structures intended for permanent or semi-permanent deployment and designed to provide prolonged service even in heavy seas. See for example Preus, "Inflatable Barrier," U.S. Pat. No. 4,104,884 (1978); Grihangne, "Floating Marine Barrage," U.S. Pat. No. 3,922,861 (1975); Vidilles, "Floating Containment Vessels or Dams for Trapping Liquid Pollutants," U.S. Pat. No. 3,922,862 (1975); and Ballu, "Floating Anti-Pollution Barrier and Method for Using the Same," U.S. Pat. No. 4,244,819 (1981).
Virtually, all of these systems are relatively heavy, typically weighing in excess of 5 lbs./ft. and expensive to manufacture, typically costing in excess of $50/ft. In addition their storage and deployment is cumbersome, often requiring, if not specialized skills, specialized or heavy duty equipment, such as shown by the Trawler mounted inflation deployment device by Finigan, supra.
Because of the cost of such equipment, its cumbersomeness, weight and the special equipment or skills needed to deploy it, it is often the case that many hours if not several days are required before the oil containment equipment and personnel can arrive at the site of the oil spill to prevent further damage. In the meantime, the severity of the spill often increases or spreads such that substantial damage has already been incurred prior to the first possibility of any limitation. In many cases, the amount of damage could be substantially minimized or even trivialized if some means were available for on-the-spot containment at the instant of the spill.
Therefore, what is needed is an oil or pollution containment system which is light, easily deployable with light equipment and minimal personnel needs and which can be quickly provided to or carried by each vessel or delivered to the site where the spills occurs.